Alexander Sims
2018 Ad Diriyah E-Prix |champs = 0 |wins = |currentteam = BMW i Andretti Motorsport |natflag = GBR |no = 27 |firstwin = }} Alexander Sims (born 15 March 1988 in London, U.K.) is a British racing driver who competes in the 2019/20 ABB FIA Formula E Championship for BMW i Andretti Motorsport.'BMW takes covers off season five challenger', fiaformulae.com, (FIA Formula E, 14/09/2018), http://www.fiaformulae.com/en/news/2018/september/bmw-takes-covers-off-season-five-challenger/, (Accessed 14/09/2018) A factory driver for the Bavarian car manufacturer's GT programme, Sims joined the BMW FE project ahead of their debut season in 2018/19 having helped develop their World Endurance Championship programme. Sims would have a mixed debut season, with a collision with teammate António Félix da Costa while fighting for the lead of the 2019 Marrakech E-Prix overshadowing his thirteenth place in the Championship. Background Sims made his racing debut in karting at the age of ten, steadily rising through the ranks ahead of a move into car racing in 2006.Placeholder That year, Sims joined the Formula Renault UK 2.0 Winter Series in his native Britain, before moving to the full series for 2007. After two seasons racing Sims ended the 2008 campaign as runner-up, earning him the McLaren Autosport BRDC Award for 2008 and a seat in the Formula 3 Euro Series. Formula Dreams Sims' step into F3 would be a strong one, with the Brit ending the 2009 season in fourth with a handful of podiums and a victory. A near identical season followed in 2010, before Sims made the step to the GP3 Series for 2011, taking a single victory. However, Sims was unable to secure a second season of GP3 in 2012, with the Brit ultimately getting one-time drives in F3, the European Le Mans Series and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. GT Generation Another bit-part season followed for Sims in 2013, with various appearances in F3, GP3 and the Blancpain Endurance Series. The latter concept seemed to grab Sims for 2014, with the Brit joining the British GT Championship for the season, ending the year in third. Another impressive campaign followed in 2015 with Sims just missing out on the title, while the Brit also enjoyed his best result at the Macau Grand Prix, finishing third. Those successes attracted the attentions of BMW to Sims' career, whom duly signed the Brit to join their various GT programmes for 2016. He was subsequently placed in the BMW backed Rowe Racing team in the Blancpain GT Series, with other drives in F3 and British GT. For 2017 Sims was placed in BMW's United Sports Car Championship team, as well as the development programme for the new BMW M6 GTE. Come the end of 2017 Sims would just miss out on his first major Championship title, finishing second in the USCC. Regardless, BMW would re-sign the Brit for 2018, placing him in their USCC and World Endurance Championship teams, as well as securing the Brit a seat in their new Formula E team. Formula E History Sims' first taste of a Formula E car came during in 2014, with the Brit having tested the SRT_01E during its development phase. That eventually developed into a reserve roll with Andretti Formula E during 2016/17, with Sims almost making his debut at the 2017 Monaco ePrix in place of Robin Frijns.Sam Smith, 'Sims on standby for Frijns at Monaco', motorsport.com, (Motorsport, 08/05/2017), https://www.motorsport.com/formula-e/news/sims-on-standby-for-frijns-at-monaco-903446/903446/, (Accessed 14/09/2018) For 2017/18 Sims became the main development and reserve driver for Andretti, notably taking part in the 2017 Valencia Test, ahead of BMW arriving to take over the team in 2018/19.'Nine manufacturers homologated for Season 5', fiaformulae.com, (FIA Formula E, 21/03/2017), http://www.fiaformulae.com/en/news/2017/march/nine-season-5-powertrain-manufacturers-homologated/, (Accessed 22/03/2017) BMW Bounty After a year of testing for Andretti and BMW, Sims was officially revealed as a race driver for their combined entry in 2018/19, joining António Félix da Costa. A quiet start to the season saw Sims overshadowed by his more experienced teammate, failing to score as da Costa swept to victory in Ad Diriyah.'Race Report: Da Costa - 'We did it baby, we're back!', fiaformulae.com, (FIA Formula E, 15/12/2018), https://www.fiaformulae.com/en/news/2018/december/race-report-saudi, (Accessed 15/12/2018) He would, however, prove far more competitive at the following Marrakech E-Prix, fighting for the lead with da Costa in the closing stages. Indeed, it was in the midst of that late battle that Sims' season was effectively defined, for the Brit threw a lunge at his teammate with a few minutes to go, only for the pair to contrive to hit each other.'Mahindra's d'Ambrosio made up with manic win in Marrakesh', fiaformulae.com, (FIA Formula E, 12/01/2019), https://www.fiaformulae.com/en/news/2019/january/race-report---2019-marrakesh, (Accessed 12/01/2019) The collision left da Costa in the wall and dumped Sims back to fourth, after the pair had established a small lead over the rest of the field. Afterwards the BMW-Andretti team implemented new rules of engagement for the 2019 Santiago E-Prix onward, where Sims claimed seventh place.'Bird storms to victory in sweltering Santiago showdown', fiaformulae.com, (FIA Formula E, 26/01/2019), https://www.fiaformulae.com/en/news/2019/january/race-report-santiago-2019, (Accessed 27/01/2019) That proved to be Sims' last point score until the 2019 Berlin E-Prix, with a mix of poor fortune, collisions and poor qualifying performances costing Sims a title bid, with the Brit actively moving aside for teammate da Costa at several rounds including Monte Carlo.'Di Grassi victorious in the battle for Berlin, home race victory for Audi', fiaformulae.com, (FIA Formula E, 25/05/2019), https://www.fiaformulae.com/en/news/2019/may/race-report-berlin-2019, (Accessed 25/05/2019) Seventh in Berlin was followed by eleventh in Bern, before the Brit claimed fourth in 2019 New York City E-Prix I, having again moved aside for da Costa as the Portuguese ace tried in vain to fight for the crown.'Buemi wins in New York but disaster for Champ Vergne extends title challenge', fiaformulae.com, (FIA Formula E, 13/07/2019), https://www.fiaformulae.com/en/news/2019/july/race-report-nyc-2019, (Accessed 14/07/2019) Sims followed that up with his best performance of the season since Marrakech, claiming second place in the season ending New York City E-Prix II having claimed his first pole position.'Frijns wins while Vergne claims historic two-time Championship title in New York', fiaformulae.com, (FIA Formula E, 14/07/2019), https://www.fiaformulae.com/en/news/2019/july/race-report-nyc-2-2019, (Accessed 15/07/2019) Come the end of the season Sims had scored 57 points and thirteenth in the Championship. Sim-son Two Sims' position within the BMW-Andretti team was left in an unknown state at the conclusion of the 2018/19 season, as da Costa left the team to be replaced by German youth Maximilian Günther.'BREAKING: Guenther secures BMW drive while Da Costa parts ways', fiaformulae.com, (FIA Formula E, 09/09/2019), https://www.fiaformulae.com/en/news/2019/september/guenther-joins-bmw-as-da-costa-parts-ways, (Accessed 09/09/2019) Indeed, Sims would have to wait until the eve of the 2019 Valencia Test to officially be announced for 2019/20, becoming the team's de facto lead driver. However, Sims would not only repay their faith with a strong run at said test, demonstrating formidable long run pace, but would open the sixth FE season as a major title pretender. Full Formula E Record Shown below are a series of tables outlining ' career in Formula E in statistical form. Formula E Entries The list below includes all of the teams and cars, as well as overall finishing positions for during their FE career: Career Results Below is a table showing ' full Formula E record. | |14th| | |17th| |13th| |11th| | |13th|57}} |} References Videos and Images: * References: Category:Drivers Category:British Category:BMW Category:Andretti